Michigan State University has reached a settlement for $500 million with 332 victims of abuse by former sports-medicine doctor Larry Nassar, the school said Wednesday.
The university will pay $425 million to the victims and an additional $75 million will be set aside in a trust fund to protect any future claims of sexual abuse against Nassar, a longtime faculty member and sports-medicine doctor.
The settlement covers lawsuits filed by 332 plaintiffs, who claimed that Nassar sexually abused his patients, many of them young female gymnasts, for more than two decades. It alleged that the school had the opportunity to stop him, but failed.
The Michigan State University Board of Trustees agreed to the settlement terms Tuesday night. The settlement doesn’t address claims that some of Nassar’s victims have also brought against USA Gymnastics, the United States Olympic Committee and others.
MSU Board Chairman Brian Breslin also issued a written statement Wednesday morning, which said in part, “We are truly sorry to all the survivors and their families for what they have been through, and we admire the courage it has taken to tell their stories.”
Interim Michigan State president John Engler, a former Michigan governor, has said increased tuition is one possible way for the university to cover the costs, and warned that consequences could be even more dire.
“I don’t know if it would force bankruptcy (for the university) or not,” Mr. Engler said in a Michigan State Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing earlier this year. “I hope not.”
Nassar assaulted hundreds of gymnasts and other women and girls, including several Olympians, under the guise of treatment. He was convicted of several sexual-assault and child-pornography counts and sentenced to more than 200 years behind bars.
Revelations of Nassar’s crimes spurred leadership overhauls at USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State, where the president and athletic director resigned.
The 332 plaintiffs include dozens of Michigan girls and women treated by Nassar at Michigan State, as well as a handful of elite gymnasts who represented the U.S. in international competition and alleged abuse by Nassar while he was serving as the women’s national team physician, a role he held for over two decades.
The elite gymnasts, including 2012 Olympic gold medalists McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber, alleged negligence by Michigan State in failing to act on reports of abuse going back to the late 1990s. They pointed to Nassar’s contracts at Michigan State that said that his work for USA Gymnastics was part of his employment at the university.
National-team gymnasts are also suing USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee, as well as individual officials and coaches in some instances, alleging negligence. Meanwhile, some of the Michigan girls and women have also filed suit against USA Gymnastics, alleging that Nassar’s link to the elite team allowed him to attract new patients and that USA Gymnastics knew or should have known about his actions.
USA Gymnastics and the USOC have previously declined to comment on ongoing litigation but deny knowledge of Nassar’s actions before June 2015. USA Gymnastics has said it reported Nassar to law enforcement five weeks after learning of an athlete’s concerns. That report ended up languishing for a year with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As part of the settlement, there will be no confidentiality agreements or nondisclosure agreements, according to attorneys for the survivors.
“This historic settlement came about through the bravery of more than 300 women and girls who had the courage to stand up and refuse to be silenced,” said John Manly, an attorney for the victims. “It is the sincere hope of all of the survivors that the legacy of this settlement will be far reaching institutional reform that will end the threat of sexual assault in sports, schools and throughout our society.”
In 2013, Penn State University paid more than $90 million to settle civil claims filed by more than 30 men who said they were sexually abused by retired coach Jerry Sandusky. Mr. Sandusky is serving a 30-to-60 year sentence in state prison after being convicted in 2012 of sexual abusing 10 boys.
—Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Kris Maher contributed to this article.
Write to Douglas Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com and Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com
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